The children of an Adelaide woman whose bones were found on a Malaysian construction site say it was "heartbreaking" to hear yesterday that an investigation never looked into how she died.
Annapuranee Jenkins, who was also known as Anna, vanished in Penang in 2017, while on a trip to visit her ailing mother.
Her children, Greg Jenkins and Jen Bowen, have long held the belief that their mother was the victim of a robbery-homicide and have accused local police of not properly investigating her disappearance.
Mr Jenkins found her bones at a construction site in Penang in 2020, after receiving an anonymous message on WhatsApp with a photo of some of his mother's possessions, which had been found by workers.
A coronial inquest into the 65-year-old's death in Malaysia heard yesterday that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had already declared Mrs Jenkins's death a "sudden death" rather than a suspected murder before an investigator looked into it further.
Mr Jenkins said the investigator — Azrul Azizan Mat Rawi — tried skirting around whether he looked into the cause of Mrs Jenkins's death before finally saying no.
He had just been investigating whether the bones were human or animal, he told the inquest.
"It's absolutely heartbreaking," Mr Jenkins said in a video conference call organised by South Australian MP Frank Pangallo.
"We the family have done everything — we've searched the entire country, we've handed everything we can to the police to try and find out what happened with Mum and then to hear that from the top level down that they're the ones that are making these decisions to say you know that human life doesn't matter here in Malaysia.
"The DPP's office didn't object at all, so when the investigating officer said the decision came from the DPP's office, that could have been the opportunity for the DPP to go 'no, that's a lie', but he sat there and said nothing, which rings so much truth to what they're saying and the fact that no-one except for us searched for Mum."
Call for pressure on Malaysian authorities
Mrs Jenkins and her husband Frank would travel to Malaysia multiple times a year to visit her mother, who was in an aged care home.
On the last day that Mrs Jenkins was seen alive, she left her husband at their hotel and visited a local dentist before taking an Uber ride to see her mother.
She never made it to the aged care home.
Mr Jenkins said it was a "stark reminder" for Australians not to travel to Malaysia because of the poor way investigations into missing people were handled, even when it appeared the missing person may have met with foul play.
"Enough is enough," he said.
"We're hoping that is a catalyst for Australia and the Australian authorities ... to go this is not how we want Australians to be treated when they come to Malaysia."
Since his mother's disappearance in 2017, Mr Jenkins has flown to Malaysia dozens of times searching for answers.
The coronial inquest into Mrs Jenkins's death was adjourned early last year after only three days, with Malaysia's deputy prosecutor labelling the police investigation "too poor" for it to continue.
The coroner will look at the site where Mrs Jenkins's remains were found today.
The inquest, which began last March, is expected to wrap up tomorrow.
